


The Invisible Beast

by thedovahcat



Series: The Invisible Beast [1]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Biblical References, Eldritch, Gen, Lovecraft References, Mystery, OC: Catrene Luvere, OC: Silas, OCs - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:41:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25351846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedovahcat/pseuds/thedovahcat
Summary: For about as long as she could remember, Catrene Luvere's always heard something in the depths of her head. A person? A strange creature? An emotion? A drive? Even she's never been really sure.Ten years have passed since the Institute's destruction and the Boston Commonwealth's revival. After disappearing suddenly once the 'boogeymen of the Commonwealth' had been defeated, Catrene's finally returned to the city with the intention to bridge some of the relational gaps she left behind. And to search for help in figuring out what this mysterious presence could be.Unbeknowst to her, however, the 'help' comes looking for -her-.
Series: The Invisible Beast [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1835944
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	The Invisible Beast

_We were…_

_We are…_

The further Catrene walked down the heavily forested road, the louder the whispers became. It was as if they danced between the trees, just beyond the branches and into the dark and misty horizon, fading in and out of earshot. Always teasing.

Always taunting.

Along the dirt were the trees’ curled and gnarled dark roots. Upon closer inspection however, they did not lie still. They pulsated like blood veins attached to some unseen heart, and slowly but surely, they crawled along the ground, looking for anything to hold onto.

_We were…_

_We are here…_

A branch snapped in the distance as something large lurked far away, only ever daring to appear at the edge of her vision.

She paused, waiting, listening.

Silence fell.

“Where?” She asked, not really expecting an answer. But one came.

_Not in places we know, but the ones in-between…_

_Unseen to many…_

Cat furrowed her brows in frustration.

The dream (or whatever it was) was always the same. Always vague responses, and even more questionable answers.

This voice, this… _thing…_ Whatever it was always eluded her, for years even. For as long as she could remember, there had always been _something_ lurking in the back of her head. Not telling her to do things, exactly. It was more of a feeling rather than an entity, like in the dreams.

Though, the word ‘feeling’ didn’t precisely describe it either.

A sudden rumbling came as the forest became lost in a flash of blinding light.

The image of a dark pool of murky water appeared in her mind’s eye rather than physically right in front of her. It almost looked like tar, with how it bubbled and rippled ominously.

_The gate…_

_The gate…_

_You know the gate._

“The gate- what gate?! Answer me you son of a-”

The rumbling became louder, and a shrill noise practically pierced her eardrums as everything shook.

_You know the gate._

_You ARE the gate._

_YOU are the key. The guardian._

_We are…-_

Everything churned and swirled violently as if caught in a whirlpool, sucking her in, deeper, and deeper, into the dark until-

It spat her back out.

______________

Cat’s foot gave the side of the wagon a harsh kick as she awoke in a panic. The boxes and bags and everything packed in it rocked and rattled as the cart ran over a particularly hard bump.

“Fer God’s sake don’t break anything back there,” A raspy voice said from the front. The wagon’s ghoul-driver, Silas. The lantern hanging near him swung back and forth, making the shadows dance in a funny way as he glared at her briefly before returning his eyes to the dark road ahead. “Awake, asleep- it don’t matter with you.

Always thrashin’ around and makin’ a mess… Unbelievable...” He muttered.

Cat laid there, breathing hard until the ringing in her very hot ears finally began to settle down.

Up above them was the night sky, filled with stars and lit by a bright moon, and all around them were dark and dead woods, with the sounds of animals barking or howling in the distance.

Just like the dream…

Slowly she sat up, rubbing at her eyes before glancing around aimlessly. “We there yet?? It’s taking forever,” She asked.

“Since we’re pullin’ an all nighter, we’ll be on the outskirts of the Boston Commonwealth by the mornin’. Or the afternoon. Depends.”

“Depends on what?”

“Depends on whether or not you keep makin’ us stop for somethin’ or other. Trouble.”

Cat grunted and frowned, leaning on the edge of the wagon to try and look ahead of them. “Can’t we go any faster?”

Silas made a condescending ‘tch’. “And have all our rattlin’ attract bears an’ who knows what else? Think I’ll pass. Besides, Black Betty’ll tucker out if I keep pushin’ her.”

The rad-donkey began nodding her head in a very dramatic manner, lips curled back to expose her yellow teeth as her four long ears bounced along with her skull.

“Yeah… I know girl, yer doin’ real well.” Silas received a bray of confirmation. “Anyway, you keep watch. Like yer supposed to. Already bad enough that I’m haulin’ yer ass around fer free. Mostly. Dunno why ya weren’t happy stayin’ in New Vegas after it took all that trouble ta get there.”

Cat made a sound of disapproval as she picked up the hunting rifle that sat next to her, keeping a lookout towards the remnants of the dark forest. “I needed to go back.”

“Yeah? Fer what?”

She frowned. “There are a few things I need to do here first, before I head back to New Vegas.”

“And those things would be??” Silas asked, only to receive more silence. “See, that’s the thing. _You_ don’t ever tell anyone _anything_. How’s anyone supposed ta help you or make sense of anythin’ you do?”

More silence.

Silas let out an annoyed and defeated sigh. “Fine. Whatever.”

“How’s Boston been? It’s been a while since I’ve been back.”

“Not any different. What with th’ Institute gone an’ what have ya. The Brotherhood cleared out, the Railroad went silent. The Minutemen are th’ ones that deserve the credit for keepin’ the place from burnin’ down to the ground.”  
  
“Quiet?”

“Yeah I guess. If ya wanna call it that.”

Cat leaned back against the side of the wagon again, tense at first, until the monotony forced her to relax, just a little.

The thought of being Boston had been… perhaps not nerve-wracking, but definitely anxiety inducing. Not so much the city and the ruins itself, but the people… Would they remember her? Would they _want_ to? She didn’t know.

And even if they did…

“How long you plannin’ on stickin’ around?”

Silas kept his back to her and didn’t answer right away, as if he were deciding the length of time then and there. “Maybe a few weeks. Gonna start at Diamond City, like I always do. Hear they’re lettin’ ghouls ‘round finally. After they got ridda that crackpot mayor of theirs.

Then it’s Bunker Hill, n’ the Slog after that, and hopefully all th’ northern settlements, if all goes well. Dunno what kinda year they’ve had out here. It all depends.”

Cat hummed in response.

A few weeks…

That would be enough time.

“I’m gonna swing by Goodneighbor then. I’ll catch up with you before ya head back out on the road again.”

“Ahuh… Just so ya know, I ain’t waitin’ up for ya.”

She rolled her eyes.

“I mean it.” He turned then, shooting her another annoyed expression. “Don’t you roll yer eyes at me, I could practically _feel_ that.

Just cuz th’ place has gone dark in terms of strange activity don’t mean there still ain’t raiders n’ super mutants ta worry about. Last thing I need ta hear is you shootin’ up some place or some people, doin’ who knows what. Trouble just likes ta _find_ you like that.”

“You could just say ‘stay out of trouble’, you know. Like a normal person.”

“You don’t understand _normal_.” Silas shook his head.

“You’re right! I don’t!” Cat laughed, folding her arms behind her head in a reclining-like position.

They rode on a while longer without speaking, with only the sound of Black Betty’s hooves to fill the space, and the time.

Cat held her gaze on the sky for a majority of the time. Particularly on the moon.

“You ever hear voices in dreams before?” She asked without prompting.

“Voices?”

“Yeah.”  
  
“Well like what kind?”  
  
“I dunno,” She shrugged slightly. “Like, whispery kind. Maybe kind of like spooks. Or how about in that story book of yers?”  
  
“Book? What book- OH- my bible? Yeah. Sometimes.

Ain’t a storybook.” He added. “Why?”

  
“Just wondering. I dunno, tell me something about it. The night’s dragging on, and on, and on...”

“Well,” The wagon continued to rock loudly as the ground below them became more uneven. “Dreams were usually like...premonitions, back in th’ day. Of things that were going ta happen.

Or they had things or places- or symbols of some kind representin’ all sorts of things. People, kingdoms… Well I mean, in th’ book they did. They were usually pretty abstract though. Abstract and specific.”  
  
“What?? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“It’s hard ta explain- anyway,” Silas continued, “So dreams meant certain things sometimes, and sometimes there were certain people who were able to understand what they meant. The dreams, I mean.

Like Joseph. That’s a good one.”

Cat raised a brow and turned her head towards him. Or towards the back of the ghoul’s coat, that is. “Joseph??”

“Yeah. Real special fellow. He could understand what certain dreams meant and what you were supposed ta do about ‘em.

He helped th’ Pharaoh of Egypt at the time figure out what _his_ dreams meant, and because’a that, they were able ta plan ahead and keep people from starvin’ n’ all that.”

“Mhm...”

“Ya ain’t even listening anymore.”  
  
“I am, I am...”

“Uh-huh.

Since ya ain’t in the mood ta listen anymore, or ta keep watch, ya may as well get some sleep. That’ll at least give me a measure of peace before we get there.”

“Mm,” Cat slid lower into the wagon, lying down on a folded up tarp that served as a pathetic blanket. Once she had managed to curl into a ball and closed her eyes…

The whispers returned, tickling at her ears relentlessly.

Still, that wasn’t the worst part of it all.

No, the real pit in her stomach lied with the fact that she would be on her way to Goodneighbor the very next day, and not knowing what would occur there.

Goodneighbor had always been the town of misfits, and they had welcomed her with open arms.

But…

That was then.

In the end, she somehow managed to fall back asleep, only to reappear in the black, foreboding woods again, with the roots made of flesh and the unseen and prowling beast lurking in the beyond.

And the voices continued to whisper still…

_We are..._

_We were…_

_We are here..._


End file.
